When we were in our 20s, my partner Sam and I decided to do a working holiday in Banff, Canada.
Initially, we rented a room in a three-bedroom share house with two other couples who were close in age to us. It was loads of fun, but nobody did much cleaning, and there was a fair amount of drinking and partying.
Sam got a job with the town of Banff and soon he befriended this Canadian guy named Billy. Billy is one of those larger-than-life personalities; he’s high energy and extremely likeable. Everyone in town knows him, and he’s affectionately known as “Billy Banff.”
One day, Billy mentioned that he and his wife had a room available in their cozy two-bedroom property. After chatting with me about it, Sam told Billy we’d love to take it.
We lived together well
I’ll never forget the day we moved in. I met Billy’s wife, Fern, who’s a wonderfully warm, very calm, grounded person. She’s the yin to Billy’s yang in a lot of ways, and the pair complements each other beautifully.
As we talked through the finer details of the rental arrangement, I asked her if I could have a set of keys for the property.
“Oh, honey, we don’t even know where they are,” she said, smiling. “We never bother locking the house!” That’s the kind of trusting, beautiful people Billy and Fern are. Their house is always open and full of loved ones.
When they showed us our room, they’d left a bottle of Yellow Tail merlot from Australia on the dresser for us, as a nod to our home. We felt so welcome.
At that point, Billy and Fern were in their 50s, while Sam and I were 29 and 26. Despite the age difference, the living arrangement worked really well. Fern and Bill were fun and young at heart, but also very caring and nurturing. We all helped out with cleaning and often shared meals together.
I used to love coming home after a waitressing shift to find Fern on the veranda, relaxing and taking in nature. We’d have deep conversations about love, life, and everything in between.
Sometimes, if Billy was home, we’d crank “Moves Like Jagger” by Maroon 5 and dance around the living room like kids. I also played “A Horse With No Name” by America over and over; it had been featured by our favorite TV show at the time, “Breaking Bad,” and Billy and I often sang it together. It became a bit of a theme song for that chapter of my life.
We moved out, but we’ve stayed in touch all these years
When we eventually decided it was time to move on from Banff, the feeling was bittersweet. It was springtime when we left. The deer were out in full force and the sun was still shining at 9 p.m. As a final farewell, Fern made an amazing feast for us and we sat around the fire drinking wine. It really felt like home.
After we left Banff, we moved to London for a year and then returned to Australia. As fate would have it, Fern and Billy’s daughter Penny lives on the Gold Coast, where my family is based, so we’ve been lucky enough to catch up with them over the years. In 2019, we even took our kids to Canada to show them Banff, which still feels like our “happy place.”
On our most recent catch-up on the Gold Coast earlier this year, I was walking through a beachside park when I heard someone singing a familiar tune with a thick Canadian accent. “I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name. It felt good to be out of the rain,” they sang. I could not wipe the grin off my face as I turned and saw Billy standing nearby, his arms outstretched and ready for a bear hug.
Whenever we get together with Fern and Billy, it’s always like old times. They’re more than lifelong friends. To us, they’re family and always will be.
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